So pleased to announce our very first featured member here on the glass boards, joby560! Let's find out more about the member and artist, joby560.

Brief Craftster member facts: Member since May 25, 2009, from Seattle, topics started 291

joby560 has been posting on the glass boards of Craftster since his first day as a member. Always with pieces that have loads of beautiful bright colors. Makes you smile just looking at them. Does me, anyway. My favorites are the wind chimes and fun faces. The faces are so whimsical and the wind chimes unique.

1. First, where does the name joby560 come from? My first name is Joby and the prefix for my phone number was 560 when I joined the site.

2. How long have you been working with glass, and what sparked your interest in trying it? Do you work in any other mediums? I have been working with glass for 5 years. It happened by accident really. I was in standstill traffic in Seattle. I was reading the signs on a business window that said "FUSED GLASS CLASSES HERE! ENROLL NOW". So, I pulled my rig over, went in, asked a few questions and signed up on the spot for the three day class. Fused Glass and Mosaics are the only two mediums I work with now.

3. From planning to completion how long does a medium project usually take you? What inspires your project ideas?A medium fused glass project usually takes 2 - 3 days because of the time needed for firing, annealing and slumping. Glass mosaic projects take an average of 2 weeks given the amount of time needed for the adhesive and grout to cure between steps. I wish it was more exciting than that, but it just isn't. The unimpressive truth is that I scour Pinterest, Google images and Etsy to get my inspiration.

4. What is your favorite piece you've done so far? Why?I am drawn to bright, vivid colors. The more colors in a piece, the better! So this wind chime is my favorite so far.

5. For anyone interested in trying glass fusing, what do you recommend?Do it! Take an introduction class. Start with one of those groovy microwave kilns. That was the first kiln I tried. Within a week I was online ordering an electric kiln from Paragon. If you can't afford a kiln, look online for places in your area that may rent kiln space or charge you by the fire if you want to make glass and don't want to invest too much up front.

Fun fact question:Do you have a pet(s)? Name or names? My most recent pet was an English Bulldog (Stella). She was a snorer and always needed to be between my feet whenever I worked on glass. Apparently she liked it, too.

Thank you to joby560 for being our featured member! You can find more of his work on the glass boards.